Seven million watch Michael Schumacher unveiled as The Stig

The return of Top Gear, the BBC motoring show, was watched by 7 million people who tuned in to see Michael Schumacher unmasked as The Stig.

Michael Schumacher: Top Gear show in which driver was unmasked as fabled Stig was watched by 7 millionPhoto: BBC

By Urmee Khan, Digital and Media Correspondent

7:00AM BST 23 Jun 2009

The programme fronted by Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, attracted 30 per cent of the audience between 8pm and 9.05pm on Sunday.

The equivalent series shown this time last year averaged 5.9 million and the last series, which finished in December, attracted on average 6.6 million, according to Attentional, a media consultancy that provides overnight viewing figures.

Of the 7.1m who tuned in from 8-9pm last night, 2.3m were aged 16-34 and 53 per cent of the total audience were male, according to Broadcast magazine, the industry magazine.

The BBC Two programme returned for its 13th series with this presenting team, and inclded Schumacher, the former Formula 1 racing driver, "unveiled" as mystery driver The Stig.

His appearance on the show was a stunt to mark the first episode of the new series. A spokesman for Top Gear confirmed Schumacher had been The Stig during that show, where he completed a lap of the Top gear track in 1 minute 10.7 seconds in a £1 million Ferrari FXX – seven seconds faster than ever before.